President Muhammadu Buhari said late Tuesday in Riyadh that his
administration was fully committed to increasing the productivity of
Nigeria’s agriculture and solid minerals sectors to save the nation from
the harsh effects of lower crude oil prices.
Speaking at a meeting with leading members of the Council of Saudi
Arabia’s Chambers of Commerce and Industry, President Buhari said that
with declining revenues from crude oil exports, Nigeria’s hopes of
economic resurgence now lie in the rapid development of its immense
agricultural and solid mineral resources.
Inviting Saudi Arabian businessmen to invest in both sectors, the
President said that his administration will welcome greater foreign
investment in support of its efforts to rapidly diversify the Nigerian
economy.
President Buhari said that Nigeria had regrettably depended too much on
crude oil exports to the neglect of other resources and was now paying a
harsh price for failing to diversify its economy early enough.
“With the downturn in the global prices of oil, we now have to prospect
our solid minerals. We have to return to agriculture. Mining and
agriculture are our hopes now. We will welcome investments in these areas.
We will appreciate an in-flow of more resources and expertise to help us
achieve our objective of economic diversification,” the President said.
The governors of Osun, Ogun, Katsina, Borno, and Zamfara states, who were
part of the President’s delegation, took turns to address the Saudi
Arabian businessmen on investment possibilities in their states, assuring
them of good returns.
The Chairman of the Council of the Saudi Arabian Chambers of Commerce and
Industry, Dr Abdulrahman Al Zamil said that agriculture was a very
important area of investment for its members, adding that they were
already in Brazil, the United States of America and Sudan, “where we have
huge farms.”
Declaring that they were willing to invest in Nigeria, Dr Abdulrahman Al
Zamil said that the Saudis were the leading investors in Egypt, Morocco,
Tunisia, Kenya and Ethiopia.